VIDEO/PHOTOS: This past winter, a series of wildfires fueled by strong winds destroyed more than 11,000 homes and 37,000 acres in Los Angeles, reducing much of the Pacific Palisades and Altadena neighborhoods to ash. City, state and federal leaders promised to expedite the rebuilding process and in February completed an important first step. The Environmental Protection Agency cleared more than 9,000 properties in 28 days. The EPA says it is the fastest hazardous debris removal in its history.
We’ll show you exactly how they did that and why some residents โ including those with homes still intact โ say they still don’t feel safe to return. As we first reported in March, they’re worried about what the wildfires left behind. Brick chimneys and burnt trees are the sole markers of what were once picture-perfect Southern California neighborhoods.
House after house on this pacific palisades block was destroyed by wildfire except for this one. On the corner of Iliff street, we met Lynn McIntyre. Her 1940s stucco home is, inexplicably, intact. Every single house. I look at it and I said, why? Why was my house spared? I call myself one of the “left behinds.” Because I don’t have the same set of issues that all of my neighbors have. They’re cut and dried. Their properties have burned to the ground. My home did not.
